Disclaimer : I do not own YYH.

He sat there on the highest tree branch, eyeing her from behind the snowy leaves. She was playing with the little birds in the snowy yard, laughing everytime they perched onto her green hair. The white hares soon came out from their hiding spots, anxiously joining them, followed closely by the squirrels and butterflies from behind. She gladly welcomed them into her playground, smiling even wider than she did before their arrival. Her smile gave them the warmth that they needed, assuring them to stay with her even longer.

Even in the middle of the cold snow, she managed to seem so warm and inviting. How she did it, Hiei always wondered. After all, she was an ice demon. Her heart was supposed to be as cold as her body temperature. But the truth was the complete opposite of his theory.

That fact made Hiei smiled.

He remembered the first time he watched over her. It was always like this. Him peering over her secretly from behind the tree, her unaware of his presence while innocently having fun with her surroundings. Sometimes he wished she would notice him, even if it just for once. Sometimes he wished he could join her, feel some of her radiating warmth. Sometimes, he wished he could see her smiling straightly to his face instead of the tree where he always hid from her.

But he knew he would never get his wish.

Or would he?

"Hiei-san?" he heard a soft voice called from below. Startled, he slipped on the icy treebranch and plumped head-first onto the ground. So much for his cool title.

"Damn." He grunted, rubbing his head with his bandaged hand.

The ice-demon quickly ran over to his side, staring worriedly into his red orbs. "Hiei-san? Are you alright? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you fall from the tree, I really didn't, and I'm really really sor-"

"It's okay." Hiei shortly replied, not wanting to hear his sister apologize any further. Funny how she always started to ramble whenever she was talking to him. She always managed to stay calm when she was with her friends, but her calmness seemed to always disappear whenever he was around.

"Um, okay." The girl muttered, avoiding his tense gaze.

The awkward silence slowly shrouded them both before Yukina decided to break through it.

"Hiei-san?"

"Hn?"

"Would you... would you like to play with the animals with me?"

Hiei immediately froze. Did he just hear his sister asking him to actually - what did those humans call it - hang out with her? Him? The bastard who didn't have any soft spots for any creatures other than himself?

"I think it's better than sitting on that tree al by yourself, I mean, I'm kind of lonely too right now, and I will be very happy if you-"

"Okay."

Once again, Hiei cut it short. Yukina seemed surprised by his reply, but Hiei felt more than just surprised hearing his own impulsive answer. He couldn't possibly spend his time playing with Yukina's animal friends, he would scare them all away. But seeing the joyous twinkles in his sister eyes slowly washed all his worries away, making him completely certain with his decision.

"Great! Let's go meet them then!" Yukina took the fire demon's hand in hers and pulled him toward her little friends. They both crouched down in front of the animals as Yukina started introducing each of them to Hiei.

But Hiei couldn't actually recall what she had said, nor had he paid any attention to her furry little friends. Because as soon as he saw her smiling to his face, everything else became blurry. He realized that she had finally shared some of her happiness with him. Just him.

And with that, he gladly smiled back at her.

Hiei's wish was finally granted.